CO Discretionary Funding Fiscal Year 2018

The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: provide information through a community-wide aligned messaging campaign to increase perception of risk from youth marijuana use and leveraging of state media campaigns; enhance parenting skills and family communication around youth marijuana and alcohol use; reduce access/enhance barriers; raise visibility of alcohol marketing practices that facilitate youth access or advertising targeted at youth through assessment of alcohol retail environments; and strengthen the coalition and community collaboration.

The Colorado Prevention Partners for Success (CPPS) will use SPF-PFS funds to expand its prevention infrastructure to address prescription drug misuse/abuse among youth (12-17) and young adults (18-25), while advancing progress in underage drinking prevention made through both its original SPF SIG and initial SPF-PFS. Colorado also will leverage current political momentum in the state to address underage marijuana use (ages 12-20) through its SPF-PFS. Working with prioritized communities of high need, the state proposes to make a significant impact on use of these substances among these targeted age groups

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Collaborate with youth-serving organizations to assess prevention needs, coordinate substance abuse reduction efforts; and build capacity through strategic plans, programs and policies around the issues facing young people.

Combating Rx Drug Abuse and Misuse in Rural Northwest Colorado.

Grand Futures Prevention Coalition (GFPC) is a relatively small organization serving three counties with a mission to prevent substance abuse for youth and young adults in Northwest Colorado. We only have four full-time staff members, so we rely on our Board and Advisory Council members – which make up our coalition and represent other prevention organizations, law enforcement, business leaders, mental health experts, educators, local government, diversion counselors, district attorneys and concerned parents – to help inform, guide and implement our programming. We serve approximately 52,000 people in 11 communities and are the only organization in the region with dedicated resources to directly provide a broad range of substance abuse education and awareness programs to youth. GFPC brings a strong track record of success in educating and engaging youth about substance abuse and prevention to the proposed project and the organization is well-suited to lead the coalition to accomplish the goals of the project. According to the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey results, 14.8% of youth ages 12-18 in our region have taken a prescription pill without a prescription in their lifetime, a rate is more than 11% higher than the national average of 3.5% and 1% higher than the overall state average (13.7%). Due to the geographical location of Northwest Colorado, our communities are quite isolated, with less access to health and human services programs that are more readily available to people in more populated, urban areas. It is our goal to use the CARA funding to reduce misuse and abuse of prescription drugs by 5% among middle and high school students, decrease overdose deaths in our region by 30%, and increase education for local prevention specialists and key stakeholders about best practices and resources at the state and national level in order to address this epidemic that is gripping or region. We will accomplish this by offering presentations and seminars to parents and the community, creating an educational pamphlet for pharmacists to hand out with all opioid prescriptions, adding an additional safe disposal site in each county, educating youth through the Not Prescribed curriculum, developing an online resource page for youth and their parents, creating a uniform, community-wide contract and educational presentation that discourages youth substance use as part of any school or extracurricular activity, and empowering youth to get involved and affect change through youth summits and National Drug Takeback Day events in each county. Stakeholders in our communities are passionate about implementing this work. Buy-in and support are not our biggest hurdle, funding is.

The coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: compliance checks and training and education.

The Jefferson County Drug-Free Communities that Care Coalition's (DFCTC) proposal is supported by a cross-agency collaboration made up of policy makers, elected officials, and community representatives called the Children and Youth Leadership Commission (CYLC). The CYLC, and its subcommittees were established in 2004 in order to address the immediate and long-term social service needs of children and families living in Jefferson County. The coalition, which is part of the Prevention Subcommittee, was created to identify, address, educate, prevent and reduce youth substance use. The coalition's goal of implementing an action plan to reduce youth substance use, aligns perfectly with the previous and current work of the CYLC. The DFCTC proposal will augment the work the Prevention Subcommittee has been doing to address youth substance abuse. The DFCTC proposes to actively invite and build member capacity of the coalition; create a strategic plan for substance use prevention, which aligns and coordinates with other state and local efforts; educate partners, parents and school personnel on how to implement evidence-based substance use prevention strategies; wage a county-wide awareness campaign to increase the awareness of the risks associated with substance use (school and classroom programs, after-school and prosocial activities; community events); coordinate prevention, intervention and treatment systems - an any-door systemic support plan; conduct outreach to Jefferson County's most vulnerable populations; and provide trainings across the county to increase the members' and the community's knowledge of the problems associated with youth marijuana use, youth alcohol use and youth misuse and abuse of prescription drugs; all in an effort to reduce youth substance use in Jefferson County. In addition, Jefferson County needs a centralized, professional, well-informed and coordinated communication and data collection system that all partners can input and use to collect vital information on youth substance use and abuse. The DFCTC plans to be the hub where parents and the community can come for help, information and awareness. The goals in the DFCTC proposal align with the needs of Jefferson County. In Jefferson County the rate of Emergency Department admissions for alcohol poisoning among 15-19 year olds per 100,000 was approximately 600 in 2015, representing the single greatest reason for substance-related ED poisoning visits for this age group. More than 30 percent of all Jefferson County youth in substance abuse treatment identify alcohol as their primary or secondary substance of abuse. And in 2013 and 2014, Colorado youth ranked highest in the nation for past month marijuana use, up from the fourth highest in 2011/2012. In the two year average since Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, youth self-reported past month marijuana use increased 20 percent compared to the two year average prior to legalization. Of major concern is that only 48 percent of high school students surveyed see marijuana as risky compared to 54 percent of those surveyed two years earlier. Marijuana-related school incidents involving law enforcement were notably higher in the DFCTC target communities of Edgewater and Wheat Ridge compared to the two year averages prior to legalization (2011/2012). And incidents involving all "dangerous drugs" was significantly higher among students in Lakewood compared to other school communities. The DFCTC is poised and ready to help Jefferson County significantly reduce youth substance use.

The Coalition will prevent and reduce youth substance use by implementing the following strategies: Build community leadership around the issue of youth substance abuse; provide information to coalition members, community groups and other stakeholders about the issue of youth substance use in Weld County; maintain a social marketing campaign (in Spanish and English) that focuses on inviting parents to talk with their children about the dangers of alcohol and marijuana use; provide prevention education via the Strengthening Families Program: Youth Age I 0-14 which is an evidence-based prevention parenting curriculum for families; and sponsor and provide assistance to community driven alternative activities for youth.

Passage of recreational marijuana laws in Colorado and the establishment of multiple dispensaries between 2014 and 2016 has changed the prevention environment in La Plata County. Along with an increase in youth marijuana use, alcohol use has also risen after an 8-year decline. Celebrating Healthy Communities, a 24-year-old sustainable coalition, developed a new 5-year Strategic Plan in December 2016 to prevent and decrease youth substance use. Goal 1: Strengthening Member Governance Involvement for Effectiveness & Sustainability. Goal 2: Increase Developmental Assets among youth and young adults. Goal 3: Engage in policy work through community organizing. Goal 4: Foster Positive Community Norms to decrease substance use. Goal 5: Close the health gap for disparate populations. The estimated 2016 population of the service area (La Plata County, Colorado) is 54,688 with two thirds scattered across rural areas and approximately one-third of county residents living in the city of Durango. The county has many positive attributes including excellent schools, a number of youth-serving organizations, and a high value on recreation and healthy living. However, there is tremendous economic disparity between those who can afford average housing prices of $420,000 and the 13% who are living in poverty. The county's population includes significant minority populations (7% are American Indian and 13% are ethnically Hispanic/Latino) and a significant number of adults and youth who identify as LGBT. Although tremendous diversities are found in the county's geographic, economic, racial, and gender identity data, the issues of youth substance use permeate them all, as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative data collections and analyses. The Coalition will implement an Action Plan that engages, educates and collaborates with 44 partners to promote addiction-free lifestyles by building assets for all. Specifically, we will address permissive attitudes toward alcohol use and easy access in homes that contribute to high use rates and low perceptions of parental and peer disapproval. Our Action Plan includes a rigorous set of environmental strategies to address youth access to alcohol including implementation of social host ordinances in our communities and a comprehensive media plan to ensure parents, grandparents, other adults and community members are aware of the ordinances and the consequences of allowing underage drinking. Furthermore, CHC will address youth perceptions that marijuana is not harmful, and that it is very easy to access. We must contend with a monumental state-wide policy change that worsened the already harmful effects we previously observed from marijuana use in teens. Our Action Plan focuses on preventing access and increasing perception of harm with youth marijuana use. Our aggressive environmental strategies include adding marijuana to local social host policies. Our plan addresses youth access to marijuana, increasing perception of harm of youth use, and increasing resiliency factors to protect youth from initiation.

The Achieving New Highs project focuses on reducing substance use among youth in grades 6-12 in the Telluride R-1 School District in rural Southwestern Colorado. We will reduce substance use by reducing youth access to substances, providing accurate information to youth and community members about youth substance use, and reducing that risk factors and increasing the protective factors that have been shown to impact youth substance use. Offered by the San Miguel Communities that Care Coalition, the project goals are to: 1) Establish and strengthen collaboration among communities, non-profit agencies, and local governments to support Coalition efforts to reduce substance use among youth; and 2) Reduce substance use among youth and, over time, reduce substance abuse among adults, by addressing factors in our community that increase the risk of substance abuse and promoting factors that minimize the risk of substance abuse. Our objectives for year 1 are to: • Provide information to 75% of the Telluride community and 75% of the students enrolled in 6th-12th grade on youth substance use and community-level risk and protective factors • Decrease past 30-day alcohol and marijuana use for 6-12 graders by 10% by partnering with 10 organizations/businesses to build support to create a space for prosocial youth activities • Reduce youth use of marijuana by working with local festivals, event planners, and marijuana dispensaries to add marijuana amnesty drop off boxes during festivals/special events and increasing barriers to marijuana access for youth • Reduce youth access to and use of alcohol by increasing barriers to alcohol access for youth. To accomplish these objectives, the Coalition will use the following strategies and interventions: • Educate all community members about youth substance use and risk/protective factors by facilitating community forums, implementing a media campaign, and tabling at events • Use a social norms campaign to provide accurate information to area youth on youth substance use • Build public support for a “youth club” for area organizations to offer opportunities for prosocial activities and identify possible locations within the community for the club • Conduct research into social host laws and their applicability in the Telluride community • Provide drug amnesty boxes at festivals in collaboration with law enforcement to facilitate safe disposal and reduce the likelihood that youth will come into contact with substances • Work with the marijuana dispensaries and liquor stores to reduce the incidence of adults providing alcohol and marijuana to youth through an outreach campaign. The Coalition will serve approximately 3,750 people during year 1 of the grant, which is 75% the 5,000 community members in the greater Telluride region. We expect to serve 4,750 over the 5-year grant period as we continue to outreach to and serve the region.